Dating

This year, books pertaining to race, gender, sexuality and feminism are paving the way for some interesting discussions and perspectives on how we view human life in America. One of the most prolific of these to be released this year is Morgan Jerkins’ debut, This Will Be My Undoing: Living at the Intersection of Black, Female, and Feminist in (White) America. Jerkins’ collection of essays is a timely discourse on the treatment and experiences of Black women in this country. Named as the “one of the Most Anticipated Books of 2018” by Esquire, Elle, and Vogue, Jerkins’ book contains a collection of essays regarding topics such as feminism, misogyny, Black history and pop culture. The main question Jerkins answers in her…

Romance is hard. It’s difficult enough finding somebody you like, and it’s even tougher to convince that person to get into your car and let you take them someplace that you swear is nice. However, dating shouldn’t be stressful — it should just be a pleasant time between two people who may or may not kiss at the end of the date. So, in the spirit of helping you put a little spring into your dating life, here’s a collection of the best fictional places from books we’d like to plan a date at, plus a real life alternative you might be able to pull off! Window Shopping in Hogsmeade A little town so perfect that it “looks like a…

Love is blind. You don’t have to be. No matter which stage of a relationship you’re in, this book and companion mobile app can help guide you with some of the most important decisions of your life: * Are you aware of what you really need from a romantic relationship? * Do you want insight to make better decisions, and avoid relationship pitfalls? * Are you able to see the patterns and trends of where your relationship is headed? * Do you really know how well your most important needs are being met? * Is it time to consider ending a stormy relationship that won’t improve or is getting worse, or can you actually make it better? The Balanced Relationship Barometer,…

In the movie Good Will Hunting, when Skylar proposes the idea of going for coffee, Will Hunting replies: “Or we could sit around and eat a bunch of caramels. …when you think about it, it’s just as arbitrary as drinking coffee.” Aren’t we bored with the dating status quo? The first get-to-know-you-better encounter typically revolves around coffee, and the first official date is dinner and a movie. I once went on three first dates in two weeks and each time, I followed the formula. The words “coffee,” “dinner,” and “movie” habitually fell from my lips, as unstoppable as a bodily function. This approach began to feel like a chore, which clashed with the very nature of a first date. First…

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, romance is in the air. Well, at least for some people. For the rest of us singles, romance is decidedly a little difficult to muster up these days. But, thankfully, we are not left totally to our own devices. Barbara Summers’ new book, Next! A Matchmaker’s Guide to Finding Mr. Right, Ditching Mr. Wrong, and Everything in Between (Select Books; February 2015), can help even the most unlucky-in-love find their perfect match. Summers is a long-time matchmaker and relationship guru, which makes her a veritable expert in finding love. The guide, co-written with author Carey Blakely, takes people through every stage of a relationship —from opening yourself up to the possibility of love,…

Frances Kuffel has a killer sense of humor, which you need if you’re a 53-year-old female writer living in New York City, wear size 22, eke a living from irregular adjunct teaching and regular dog walking, live in an apartment nicknamed ‘the Bat Cave’ (just as dark, but a lot smaller) with a shedding, large, racist, ageist Labrador retriever named Daisy. It’s even more stressful if you’re using online dating services to find a nice, single guy “whose baggage,” as she puts it, “can be wedged into the overhead compartment.” There are many ironic moments in Kuffel’s fourth memoir, Love Sick: A Memoir of Searching for Mr. Good Enough (Berkely Trade, 2014). Set four years ago, it follows Kuffel as…

Back in college, my friends and I were getting tired of dating guys who just weren’t right for us. More specifically, we were tired of spending months, or even years, with boyfriends who were completely wrong in just about every way. We were smart young women who knew what we wanted out of our relationships; the men we chose, though, were always obviously and painfully wrong. We reasoned that we could certainly figure this out more quickly if we were honest with ourselves, and each other, about our dates. Vows to be honest and look critically at our dates were all well and good, but we knew we’d need help holding ourselves accountable. And so we developed The Form: a…

Literature is rife with romantic prospects, as well as those people your mother would tell you to avoid at all costs. When you’re sitting at home, staring at your bookshelf this Valentine’s Day, consider these fictional characters who would arguably make a better (or infinitely worse) date than that one you’re either preparing (or wishing) for. There’s someone here for everyone. Let’s start with the ones in the plus column. Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy (Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice): Everyone’s (or at least most people’s) favorite eligible Austen man, Mr. Darcy is the one you want if you’re into hate-at-first-sight that eventually blossoms into love. Count Dracula (Bram Stoker’s Dracula): A less obvious choice, but…

New York Times #1 bestselling authors GREG BEHRENDT and AMIIRA RUOTOLA of “He’s Just Not That Into You” join BookTrib for a live chat to talk about their new book “It’s Just A F***ing Date.” GREG BEHRENDT and AMIIRA RUOTOLA AIRED February 20, 2014 at 3:00 PM (ET) It’s Just a F***ing Date A fun and funny guide to dating from the New York Times bestselling authors of It’s Called a Breakup Because It’s Broken and He’s Just Not That Into You. “The book is jam-packed with straight-talking tips on how to bag your man, and quite frankly, we can’t put it down.” – The Sun Why does dating have to be so hard? It doesn’t! Stop trying to…